When Tracy showed up shortly before sunset, she found the guys sleeping everywhere on the bottom floor. Nick, being the gentleman that he is, had obviously offered his bed to the ladies. Knight was now sleeping on the floor next to the couch with his hands crossed over his chest. Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome were sleeping on Nick's table. Happosai was unconscious under the table, clutching something that looked like a bra. Tracy didn't want to know if it was one. Ranma had crashed on the leather chair, and Kuno was still asleep on the couch. Tracy couldn't find the other two boys, the ones named Ryoga and Mousse. Instead, there was a little black pig and a white duck were asleep on the part of the couch that Kuno wasn't hogging. She didn't remember any animals when she first met the group. She quietly closed the elevator door.
As if he had sensed her, Nick suddenly snapped awake. "Tracy, what are you doing here? Why didn't you wait until our shift started?"
"I was about to, but I got word from one of my sources." Nick knew she meant Vachon, but he didn't say anything. He liked to keep her in the dark. She didn't know that he was friends with Vachon. She still didn't know that he was a vampire, or even that he knew Vachon was a vampire. He preferred it that way. She continued, "He heard that someone was staying at this old abandoned warehouse on 5th street. A young girl has been seen tied up in there."
"It has to be Akane!" Ranma was suddenly awake. "We need to go find her."
The whole group seemed to wake up at the mention of Akane's name. The girls all came down the stairs. The guys rose one by one, first Mr. Tendo then Mr. Saotome. Happi and Kuno followed suit. Then, the pig and duck awoke. They took one look at Tracy and bolted up the stairs. A minute later, Ryoga and Mousse came down to the lower level. Tracy didn't think twice about it.
"They found Akane!" Ranma announced.
"We think we did," Nick corrected him. "we'll check it out tonight." He turned to Tracy. "Call Reese. Inform him of what we're going to do."
"Okay." Tracy picked up Nick's phone and called the precinct.
Reese seemed pleased with their chosen course of action. He urged them to hurry and to be careful. "I don't want to lose my best detectives to an outside case," he insisted.
When Tracy hung up with the captain, Nick was ready to roll. So was everyone else. They split into the groups from the previous night and headed to the warehouse.
======================
When they arrived, Nick let his senses wander. With his vampiric hearing, he caught the sound of two distinct heartbeats, one weaker than the other. Then to Nick's dismay, he also heard about 10 other heartbeats. This guy had guards protecting him.
"Okay, I think your source was right. There's definitely signs of life." he told them. "We need to surround the place. Tracy, you take your group to the front. We'll go around back."
Tracy nodded. Then, the two groups separated.
======================
Vachon was sitting alone at the church, tuning his guitar. When Tracy had visited him earlier, he informed her of the fact that several of his kind had noticed mortals hanging around a common vampire refuge. He had been suspicious of whether or not this could be the girl she was searching for with Knight. But now, he wasn't so sure that he should have let her go by herself. Putting his guitar down, Vachon decided to find her and help.
======================
When Nick's group got to the rear entrance, Knight got an idea. "We need someone to sneak in and make sure it really is Akane in there."
"I'll go," Ranma volunteered.
"No, we need someone smaller," Nick insisted. "Or something. Something like a stray cat." He turned to Shampoo. The rest of the group caught onto his idea and also faced Shampoo.
Then, Shampoo understood. "No way. Shampoo help *Ranma*. Shampoo no help little Akane."
It was too late. Nick had already grabbed a nearby bucket of excess rain water and thrown it on the blue haired girl. A split second later, she was a cat. Ranma hid behind Nick.
"Let me guess," Nick said. "The boy form of Ranma is also afraid of cats."
Ukyo nodded. "Psychotic trauma from his Cat-Fu training. Genma had covered Ranma with fish sausage and hung him over a pit of hungry cats. Instead of strengthening Ranma like it was supposed to, the training backfired and Ranma developed an extreme fear of cats."
"Just feel lucky he hasn't gone into the Neko-ken yet," Ryoga added.
Nick quickly translated. "Cat-Fist?"
"He actually starts acting like a cat then," Ryoga said. "It's not fun."
Nick cracked open the door to let Shampoo in. Just as he did, the door slammed open the rest of the way and five guys came out, armed with semi-automatics. Just before they started firing at them, Nick had succeeded in pushing everyone out of the way. Then, he turned on the gunmen. Concentrating on drawing their fire away from the group, Nick barely noticed that Ranma had joined by his side to fight.
"Ranma, get back!" Nick growled, about to lose control of the beast inside. He didn't want Ranma and his friends to see him in vampire form. He struggled to keep control until the boy was out of sight, but it didn't look like that would happen any time soon.
Nick quickly looked around to see how the others were doing. Ryoga was fighting off one guard with his umbrella, using it to deflect bullets and bash the shooter. Shampoo was helping him all she could by jumping up and scratching the gunman's face. Ukyo was using her pizza spatula as a sword, beating her opponent. Kuno wasn't doing too bad with his adversary, actually using his wooden sword to slap the shooter. Mousse was trying to help him by tripping up the gunman with chains that came out his sleeves.
That left two opponents for Ranma and Nick. Ranma was doing pretty well in fighting his rival. When Nick had the chance to look over, he saw Ranma punching the guy at an incredible speed, even from the perspective of a vampire. One final kick and Ranma had knocked the man out cold.
Nick did not have the time to congratulate the boy though, because the man he had been fighting with had gotten the chance to fire his gun another time. The bullet zinged by Nick, but hit Ranma in the shoulder. The boy fell down in pain.
This made Nick lose any and all control he had over the vampire inside. He turned on the gunman, fangs bared and eyes glowing. The man took one look at Nick, and turned to run. He was stopped, however, when Ukyo's spatula connected with his head. Hard.
======================
Ukyo turned to Nick, smiling with self-satisfaction, knowing that she had helped Nick. Her smile vanished quickly when she caught a glimpse of Nick's eyes. The denim blue eyes that she had found so amazing were now feral yellow, and his incredibly white teeth had elongated into fangs. He's a monster, she thought to herself. Why do I always fall for the freaks?
======================
Nick looked at the girl and Ukyo looked back at him. His eyes were still yellow and, even though he had close his mouth some, his fangs were still visible. But he didn't worry about the girl looking at him.
What worried him was that the rest of the group was now watching him. Ranma had applied pressure to the gunshot wound and was looking up at Nick. Ryoga's and Mousse's eyes were wide in horror, and Kuno fainted again. Even Shampoo the Cat was shocked.
Nick didn't think hard about it though, because a disturbing thought hit him. If the guards were able to attack them out back where they were being stealth and quiet, then what about...
"Tracy," he hissed. Not caring about whether the kids saw him, he took to the air, intending to fly over the building. He was just about to land when the front door was kicked open and three more guards started to fire at Tracy and her posse.
As if he had sensed her, Nick suddenly snapped awake. "Tracy, what are you doing here? Why didn't you wait until our shift started?"
"I was about to, but I got word from one of my sources." Nick knew she meant Vachon, but he didn't say anything. He liked to keep her in the dark. She didn't know that he was friends with Vachon. She still didn't know that he was a vampire, or even that he knew Vachon was a vampire. He preferred it that way. She continued, "He heard that someone was staying at this old abandoned warehouse on 5th street. A young girl has been seen tied up in there."
"It has to be Akane!" Ranma was suddenly awake. "We need to go find her."
The whole group seemed to wake up at the mention of Akane's name. The girls all came down the stairs. The guys rose one by one, first Mr. Tendo then Mr. Saotome. Happi and Kuno followed suit. Then, the pig and duck awoke. They took one look at Tracy and bolted up the stairs. A minute later, Ryoga and Mousse came down to the lower level. Tracy didn't think twice about it.
"They found Akane!" Ranma announced.
"We think we did," Nick corrected him. "we'll check it out tonight." He turned to Tracy. "Call Reese. Inform him of what we're going to do."
"Okay." Tracy picked up Nick's phone and called the precinct.
Reese seemed pleased with their chosen course of action. He urged them to hurry and to be careful. "I don't want to lose my best detectives to an outside case," he insisted.
When Tracy hung up with the captain, Nick was ready to roll. So was everyone else. They split into the groups from the previous night and headed to the warehouse.
======================
When they arrived, Nick let his senses wander. With his vampiric hearing, he caught the sound of two distinct heartbeats, one weaker than the other. Then to Nick's dismay, he also heard about 10 other heartbeats. This guy had guards protecting him.
"Okay, I think your source was right. There's definitely signs of life." he told them. "We need to surround the place. Tracy, you take your group to the front. We'll go around back."
Tracy nodded. Then, the two groups separated.
======================
Vachon was sitting alone at the church, tuning his guitar. When Tracy had visited him earlier, he informed her of the fact that several of his kind had noticed mortals hanging around a common vampire refuge. He had been suspicious of whether or not this could be the girl she was searching for with Knight. But now, he wasn't so sure that he should have let her go by herself. Putting his guitar down, Vachon decided to find her and help.
======================
When Nick's group got to the rear entrance, Knight got an idea. "We need someone to sneak in and make sure it really is Akane in there."
"I'll go," Ranma volunteered.
"No, we need someone smaller," Nick insisted. "Or something. Something like a stray cat." He turned to Shampoo. The rest of the group caught onto his idea and also faced Shampoo.
Then, Shampoo understood. "No way. Shampoo help *Ranma*. Shampoo no help little Akane."
It was too late. Nick had already grabbed a nearby bucket of excess rain water and thrown it on the blue haired girl. A split second later, she was a cat. Ranma hid behind Nick.
"Let me guess," Nick said. "The boy form of Ranma is also afraid of cats."
Ukyo nodded. "Psychotic trauma from his Cat-Fu training. Genma had covered Ranma with fish sausage and hung him over a pit of hungry cats. Instead of strengthening Ranma like it was supposed to, the training backfired and Ranma developed an extreme fear of cats."
"Just feel lucky he hasn't gone into the Neko-ken yet," Ryoga added.
Nick quickly translated. "Cat-Fist?"
"He actually starts acting like a cat then," Ryoga said. "It's not fun."
Nick cracked open the door to let Shampoo in. Just as he did, the door slammed open the rest of the way and five guys came out, armed with semi-automatics. Just before they started firing at them, Nick had succeeded in pushing everyone out of the way. Then, he turned on the gunmen. Concentrating on drawing their fire away from the group, Nick barely noticed that Ranma had joined by his side to fight.
"Ranma, get back!" Nick growled, about to lose control of the beast inside. He didn't want Ranma and his friends to see him in vampire form. He struggled to keep control until the boy was out of sight, but it didn't look like that would happen any time soon.
Nick quickly looked around to see how the others were doing. Ryoga was fighting off one guard with his umbrella, using it to deflect bullets and bash the shooter. Shampoo was helping him all she could by jumping up and scratching the gunman's face. Ukyo was using her pizza spatula as a sword, beating her opponent. Kuno wasn't doing too bad with his adversary, actually using his wooden sword to slap the shooter. Mousse was trying to help him by tripping up the gunman with chains that came out his sleeves.
That left two opponents for Ranma and Nick. Ranma was doing pretty well in fighting his rival. When Nick had the chance to look over, he saw Ranma punching the guy at an incredible speed, even from the perspective of a vampire. One final kick and Ranma had knocked the man out cold.
Nick did not have the time to congratulate the boy though, because the man he had been fighting with had gotten the chance to fire his gun another time. The bullet zinged by Nick, but hit Ranma in the shoulder. The boy fell down in pain.
This made Nick lose any and all control he had over the vampire inside. He turned on the gunman, fangs bared and eyes glowing. The man took one look at Nick, and turned to run. He was stopped, however, when Ukyo's spatula connected with his head. Hard.
======================
Ukyo turned to Nick, smiling with self-satisfaction, knowing that she had helped Nick. Her smile vanished quickly when she caught a glimpse of Nick's eyes. The denim blue eyes that she had found so amazing were now feral yellow, and his incredibly white teeth had elongated into fangs. He's a monster, she thought to herself. Why do I always fall for the freaks?
======================
Nick looked at the girl and Ukyo looked back at him. His eyes were still yellow and, even though he had close his mouth some, his fangs were still visible. But he didn't worry about the girl looking at him.
What worried him was that the rest of the group was now watching him. Ranma had applied pressure to the gunshot wound and was looking up at Nick. Ryoga's and Mousse's eyes were wide in horror, and Kuno fainted again. Even Shampoo the Cat was shocked.
Nick didn't think hard about it though, because a disturbing thought hit him. If the guards were able to attack them out back where they were being stealth and quiet, then what about...
"Tracy," he hissed. Not caring about whether the kids saw him, he took to the air, intending to fly over the building. He was just about to land when the front door was kicked open and three more guards started to fire at Tracy and her posse.
